Map/Chart > The Great Lakes & Champlain

Lake Champlain from Fort St. John to Ticonderoga including Part of Lake George

A magnificent manuscript survey of Lake Champlain by Captain William Chambers & others.

Chart Information

Reference:

A213

Date

1779-82

Hydrographer/Surveyor/Artist:

Capt. William Chambers & others

Size Of Original:

w 133" x h 45"

Paper Type

Innova Smooth Cotton 315gsm

Further Information

This print is
available at the following sizes:

Chart ID

Size

Dimensions

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Notes

A213

Original

w133" x h45"

$1,486

N/A

Print only

A213x

Half

w94" x h32"

$747

N/A

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A213y

Quarter

w66.5 x h27"

$446

N/A

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A213z

Eighth

w47" x h15.5"

$181

N/A

Print only

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Read the full Chart History here:

This beautiful
survey of lake Champlain was completed after the British had taken full control
of the lake late on into the Revolutionary war, as the theater of war moved
South so the British moved-in again in this important region. During this
period the British suffered very little resistance from American forces in the
region.

During this
time there were developments in the way the British organized their ‘Lakes
Navy’. In 1778 a new naval service called the Provisional Marine was
created, independent from the Admiralty. It was instigated by Sir Guy
Carleton KB, governor of Canada and then developed by Sir Frederick Halimand
KB, his successor.

The service
really found its feet when, in 1778, it
was divided into three divisions: Lieutenant William Chambers, RN, commanded on
Lake Champlain; Master and Commander James Andrews commanded on Lake Ontario;
and Alexander Grant continued on the upper lakes.

Chambers was one of
the ‘rising star’s of the service and by 1782, he was appointed Senior
Captain, reporting directly to the Governor himself, Sir Frederick Halimand KB.

Chambers surveying work on Lake Champlain between 1779
and 1782 was exceptional and as can be seen from this beautiful manuscript,
both detailed and beautifully presented. His command on the lake with the
Royal Navy Fleet was not just about surveying however, he had many duties to
perform patrolling the water. By the end of the war in 1782 the
Provisional Marine Service had rather lost direction and reductions in the
number of officers employed in the Service being more than halved from 468 to
20. Dockyard workers on the lake were reduced from 47 to just 12.

Chambers himself went on to publish privately his own
work in the much lauded ‘Atlas of Lake Champlain’ 1779-1780. In this book
Chambers not only published charts but he provided a commentary of the
surrounding countryside which gave the work the feel of a modern day cruising
guide, as used by recreational boaters.

Chamber’s use
of insets around this chart to expand upon the harbours, bays,
passages/channels and islands around the shore adds to the charm of the piece
but intriguingly, one of the inset boxes at the top right of the survey remains
empty as though the work was never finished. One inset survey (bottom
left) is accredited to Major (Christopher) Carleton of the 29th Regiment.
Carleton had, in 1778 led a hugely successful raid on parts of New York and
Vermont passing through Lake Champlain from his base at Ile aux Noix (the subject of his survey inset), further
North up the river from the Lake. Lake George is not included, in its
entirety, on the survey.

The raid had seen the successful
destruction of enough American supplies for
12,000 men for a 4-month campaign, including included, 47 houses, 48 barns, 1
saw mill and a grist mill, 28 stacks of wheat and 75 stacks of hay. In
addition, over 80 head of cattle and 39 prisoners were captured and taken back
to Quebec. The following year Carleton led further raids which went under
the name of ‘the burning of the valleys’.